Journals / Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi / 2006 / Cilt: 46 - Sayı: 46
An Assessment of The Cooperation Process in; School Experience ; Course in Teacher Training
- Pages
- 277–310
- DOI
- —
Abstract
This study focuses on an assessment of cooperation process in School Experience I course by students enrolled in pre-service teacher training programs. It is most often argued that students come to pre-service teacher training with high expectations, enthusiasm and ambitions but usually disappointed during the first year of study because of unmet expectations. For this very practical reason, this study attempts do describe students' level of satisfaction with one of the must crucial element of pre-service teacher training, their first experience in school and classroom context as a prospective teacher. Study group consisted of 448 pre-service teacher training students enrolled in Kırşehir Education Faculty. A questionnaire was developed by researchers to collect data. Initially, 45 students were asked to respond to an open ended question. Written responses from this initial stage were categorized and likert-scaled items were produced based on these responses. These items were pre-tested on a random sample of 90 students. The questionnaire in its final form included 39 structured and one open ended question. Data were collected at two points; at the beginning of School Experience I course and at the end of course to describe students expectations and satisfaction of expectations. Findings indicated that students' expectations from school administrators, teachers, faculty members, classmates and students in visited school were significantly higher (p ≤ .000) than satisfaction of their expectations. Students had quite high expectations from all related parties involved in the process, on a five-point likert scale means ranging from 4.41 to 4.71, but there were significant gaps between expectations and satisfaction of expectations. Summary Pre-service teacher training system was restructured in 1998, within the scope of National Education Development Project (NEDP), funded by a loan agreement between World Bank and Turkish Republic. World Bank and Turkish Higher Education Council (YOK) focused on increasing relevance of pre-service teacher training to classroom practices and every day school life (YOK, 1998). Therefore, scope and nature of student school experience course in pre-service education was reorganized to initiate familiarity with teaching profession and school atmosphere in the second term of the study, starting with “School Experience I” course. School Experience I is designed to provide students with an understanding of teaching profession, school and classroom context to improve students' ability to relate their studies during the pre-service teacher training to actual school practices (YOK/World Bank, 1998; Gürbüztürk, 2000). Restructured pre-service teacher training program also offers a mandatory two-term “School Experience II” course during 7th and 8th terms. Scholl Experience II provides students with teaching experiences in the classroom under the supervision of an experienced teacher and a faculty member from their teacher training institution. Objectives of School Experience I course are defined as to provide students with an understanding and experience related to (a) school management, organizational structure and daily routines, (b) teaching as a profession, (c) teacher resources in schools, and (d) teaching-learning activities as well as social and extra-curricular activities in schools through observation and guidance by expert teachers and faculty members in systematic manner (YOK/World Bank, 1998). Experiences of students in schools should lead to establishing better links between learning experiences of pre-service teacher training in education faculties and actual practices and realities of school and classroom settings. An effective implementation of School Experience I course requires a well structured cooperation among related parties such as faculties of education, school administration, teachers and local educational authorities (Çakmak, 2000; Uslu, 2001;Tuzcu, 2002; Dönmez, 2001). Faculties of education and local educational authorities must deal effectively with overall planning and coordination of implementation process. The key concept of School Experience I course is cooperation, suggesting an orchestrated work among teachers, faculty members and students. Quality of students' experiences, to a large extend, depends on quality and nature of this cooperation. Therefore, this study focuses on an assessment of cooperation process in School Experience I course by students enrolled in pre-service teacher training programs. It is most often argued that students come to pre-service teacher training with high expectations, enthusiasm and ambitions but usually disappointed during the first year of study because of unmet expectations. For this very practical reason, this study attempts do describe students' level of satisfaction with one of the must crucial element of pre-service teacher training, their first experience in school and classroom context as a prospective teacher. Method This study was designed assess students' expectations and fulfillment of these expectations in School Experience I course from school administrators, teachers, faculty members, classmates and students in visited school regarding nature of cooperation among these parties. Study group consisted of 448 pre-service teacher training students enrolled in Kırşehir Education Faculty. A self administered questionnaire was designed by researchers to collect data. Initially, 45 students were asked to respond to an open ended question regarding students' expectations from school administrators, teachers, faculty members and other students. Written responses from this initial stage were categorized and likert-scaled items were produced based on these responses. These items were pre-tested on a random sample of 90 students. The questionnaire in its final form included 39 structured and one open ended question. The questionnaire was administered to 448 students at the beginning School Experien
Özet
Okul deneyimi I dersinin amacı, öğretmen yetiştirme sürecinin başında öğretmen adaylarına, öğretmenlik mesleğini tanıtmaktır. Bu süreçte öğretmen adayları ve uygulama öğretim elemanı ile uygulama okulu yönetici, öğretmen ve öğrencileri, işbirliği yapmak zorundadır. Ders sürecinin başarısı, bu kişilerin sorumluluklarını yerine getirmesine bağlıdır. Bu çalışma, işbirliği içerisinde olması gereken kişilere göre öğretmen adaylarının beklentilerini ve beklentilerinin karşılanma düzeylerini belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Çalışma ile ilgili veriler, araştırmacılar tarafından geliştirilen anket formunun, birinci sınıf öğrencilerine uygulanması ile elde edilmiştir. Anket formu, beklentileri ve karşılanma düzeylerini belirlemek için sürecin başında ve sonunda olmak üzere iki kez uygulanmıştır. Verilerin çözüm ve yorumlanmasında aritmetik ortalama, t testi ve pearson's r değerlerinden yararlanılmıştır. Çalışma sonunda, öğretmen adaylarının uygulama öğretim elemanı ve öğretmeni, uygulama okulu yöneticisi ve öğrencileri ile diğer öğretmen adaylarından beklentilerinin yüksek olmasına karşılık, bu beklentilerinin karşılanma düzeylerinin anlamlı bir farkla düşük olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bu anlamlı fark, işbirliği içerisinde olması gereken kişilerin karşılıklı görev ve sorumluluklar hakkındaki bilgi yetersizliklerinden ve etkin bir denetleme mekanizmasının kurulamamasından kaynaklanabilir. Öğretmen adaylarının en çok yardım beklediği kişiler uygulama öğretim elemanları iken, beklentilerinin en düşük olduğu kişiler uygulama okulu öğrencileridir. Öğretmen adaylarının beklentileri en çok kendi arkadaşları tarafından, en az da uygulama okulu öğretmenleri tarafından karşılanmıştır. Ayrıca öğretmen adaylarının işbirliği içerisinde olması gereken kişilere göre beklentileri ve beklentilerinin karşılanma düzeyleri arasında anlamlı bir ilişki bulunmuştur.